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Apple hinting at Apple Watch Series 7 feature?

Diatribe

Diatribe

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jan 8, 2004
4,258
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Back in the motherland
I was reading through the feature list and stumbled across this:


Blood glucose highlights​

Receive highlights that show your blood glucose levels during sleep as well as during exercise. Interactive charts make it even easier for you to review your blood glucose data.6

So how many people can actually measure their blood glucose during sleep or exercise for this feature to make the list?

It seems that this would only make sense if more people would be able to do it for example in an Apple Watch…
 
I am still unsure how they are going to do this, I get measuring pulse and blood o2 are done with optical sensors much like devices on the market, but there is nothing that I can find that is non invasive for measuring blood glucose, all require some blood being drawn and put into a tester.

Is the optical sensor going to see how thick my blood is and work out its syrup content? Being a diabetic would be nice, but my meter has bluetooth integration and drops the info into Apple Health, so not worried about that.

I think the only thing might be irk me since just got a 6, is if they change the design of it, to match the more square ipad prod and iphone 12 but can always upgrade lol
 
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Kimbie said:
I am still unsure how they are going to do this, I get measuring pulse and blood o2 are done with optical sensors much like devices on the market, but there is nothing that I can find that is non invasive for measuring blood glucose, all require some blood being drawn and put into a tester.

Is the optical sensor going to see how thick my blood is and work out its syrup content? Being a diabetic would be nice, but my meter has bluetooth integration and drops the info into Apple Health, so not worried about that.

I think the only thing might be irk me since just got a 6, is if they change the design of it, to match the more square ipad prod and iphone 12 but can always upgrade lol
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They recently bought a company that develops an optical sensor to measure blood glucose. I am skeptical as well but hey if one company can do it it’s Apple.
 
Ah didn't know they had done that, but still sceptical about it but did have a read up, looks like the light acts different depending on the glucose in the blood, so I am guessing will give an approximation then but not accurate like a normal tester.
 
Diatribe said:
They recently bought a company that develops an optical sensor to measure blood glucose. I am skeptical as well but hey if one company can do it it’s Apple.
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Wish Apple would buy the compony that supplies Garmin with their far superior optical HR sensors.:oops:
 
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Defender2010 said:
Also the presenter specifically mentioned out loud blood glucose during the health part of WWDC
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That's because it's a health metric that a lot of people need to track regularly. There are lots of apps that do this already and I assume many third party devices that can push data into Health (although not wrist-based). I wouldn't read too much into it.
 
boss.king said:
That's because it's a health metric that a lot of people need to track regularly. There are lots of apps that do this already and I assume many third party devices that can push data into Health (although not wrist-based). I wouldn't read too much into it.
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Apps that track blood glucose while you’re sleeping? This only works with a sensor inserted into your skin currently. Again, how many people have this to warrant this feature?
 
I heard they have a patent for a small needle that will protrude from the back of the AW to enable blood glucose monitoring.
 
akidokraja said:
That’s a joke, right?
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No, last 3 runs.

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It might be one of those tools that can help someone detect they have a problem that might otherwise not know. Then see a doctor and check. I've seen many posts on apple sites the last few years about people detecting they had a problem due to the EKG sensor in their watch.

My watch was complaining about my heart rate over a year ago so my doctor adjusted some meds. I was able to confirm readings with BP reader.

With the seeming increasing number of people with diabetes these days, if people get warnings it can help. I know my doctor checks my blood sugar annually and it has been fine for me. But if it started to go bad, and I wasn't doing an annual checkup, how would I know unless there were some reactions.
 
schlupps said:
@Julien thanks for posting this comparison!! i assume, you already made sure to have the power safe disabled for training https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT204523#savepower and the watch is sitting snug on your arm while in training.
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I had the same problem as Julien on both the 5 and 6. Whenever I would go on a run the heart rate tracking would stop in the middle. It would sometimes come back, and then stop again. A couple of times I stopped running, took the watch off, wiped the sensor and put it back on. The heart rate tracking would resume, but a few minutes later, drop out again. It would never do this at home and at rest. The watch was snug on my wrist, there was no battery saving or power safe mode enabled, the watch was fully charged. I returned both of them as there were other bugs too.

I also have a mid range garmin. It has never lost heart tracking. Not once. It is wonderfully consistent. It also has other features that make it perfect for exercising that the Apple watch inexplicably does not.
 
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I've found even the cheapest Fitbit has far more reliable heart monitoring. The overall experience is far better with AW, but the sensor is so poor.
 
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I know rumors of a glucose monitor in the Apple Watch 7 are heating up... but this would be a major medical device breakthrough and the FDA would have to approve it etc. So i dunno how accurate these rumors are.... at least for the series 7. Maybe in a few years? Guess we’ll find out in September. But my money is on no glucose monitor this time. But the 7 will probably get the flat edge redesign as well as better battery life & touch ID sensor. That would still be a nice update.
 
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Diatribe said:
They recently bought a company that develops an optical sensor to measure blood glucose. I am skeptical as well but hey if one company can do it it’s Apple.
Click to expand...
the big concern I have in such a glucose thingy, the blood oxygen, you know if your arm just isn't just so, you can't get a reading on that, It is irritating that the sensor isn't better and pinpointing the artery. The concern is, will the sensors in a new watch be better ? I have anemia as well so oxygen saturation would be nice. I wear it to bed, take the first reading and it works and 8 hours later, I have just the 1 reading. Not good. So I am skeptical, but sure being Type 2 would be nice to have rather than having some skin probe that costs over time a lot of money .
 
It is unlikely that any Apple Watch could natively support a blood glucose sensor. The technology is just not there yet to provide reliable glucose measurements with non-invasive methods and most of the devices using non-invasive methods are big and clunky and would not fit inside an Apple Watch.

Another thing is that this is one of these technologies that you cannot keep secret for long, because they have to go through various levels of approval and certification including clinical trialing, before they hit the market, stuff that by definition are public.

It is more likely in the near future, Apple to offer some kind of function to pair an Apple Watch with a sensor that is already approved for use. Some of the high end glucose sensors are using NFC technology to sync data between the sensor and a smartphone and for me sounds more likely that Apple is trying to improve the users experience rather trying to introduce a completely new technology.
 
I went ahead and bought my first Apple Watch. The series 6 Nike edition. I know the 7 is just around the corner, but I plan on doing a lot of fitness training this Summer, and couldn’t wait until the Fall. I needed one now. I am so happy with my purchase. This thing is amazing.
 
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Unless there is the blood glucose feature, and I understand it probably won't, I'll stick with my Watch 6. Right now I am paying off a new phone, the 12 Pro. I figure one debt at a time.
 
WeatherWeasel said:
Unless there is the blood glucose feature, and I understand it probably won't, I'll stick with my Watch 6. Right now I am paying off a new phone, the 12 Pro. I figure one debt at a time.
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Wise decision. Rumors are now suggesting the 7 will not only not get the glucose monitor, but that the rumored redesign won’t be this year either. Looks like a meh update.
 
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